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Brief History JDC has been a constant presence in Europe since its inception in 1914, aiding the Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe during World War I, rescuing approximately 430,000 Jews from destruction during World War II, and caring for more than 600,000 Holocaust survivors in displaced persons camps throughout Western Europe. During the Communist era, JDC often went underground in Eastern Bloc countries, providing aid to survivors through third-party mechanisms. The collapse of Communism brought with it a new era of freedom for the region’s Jews. For over a decade, JDC has played a central role in providing Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe with the tools they need to rebuild Jewish life. At the same time, we aim to ensure the physical and spiritual welfare of elderly Holocaust survivors, to support Jewish education and religious activities, and to help communities develop the resources and know-how to become self-sufficient. A Unified Europe Europe is a continent in the process of deep transformation—a process that is also having a profound effect on the continent’s Jewish communities. Thinking and acting regionally allows these communities to optimize resources to confront the dire welfare needs that still exist in the east while taking advantage of new opportunities to strengthen the Jewish infrastructure and leadership. JDC is helping to facilitate this process both within the communities themselves and by creating mechanisms among them for networking and exchange. JDC supports regional programs, seminars, and cultural events that connect Jews from nearly 40 countries, including Israel; and operates a far-reaching Internet-based community development program. Welfare Services JDC was a founding member in 1952 of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany ("Claims Conference") and the two organizations continue to be major partners in providing welfare services to needy elderly Jewish victims of Nazi persecution in the former Soviet republics as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. Significant funds for Jewish Holocaust survivors are also channeled through JDC from the Swiss Banks Settlement and contributions made by various countries to the international Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund. Communal Property The process of reclaiming wrongfully appropriated Jewish communal property in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union began with the fall of the Iron Curtain. Either as a venue for community programs and activities or as a source of income, Jewish communal property has the potential to put communities on the road to self-sufficiency. The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) set up a system whereby, through foundations established as partnerships between the local Jewish communities and world Jewry, income earned from returned property would first be allocated to cover local costs, with any excess going toward meeting global Jewish needs. As a founding member of the WJRO, established in 1992, JDC funds the organization’s efforts to reclaim property while acting as a bridge between Jewish communities and international Jewish groups. JDC also supports research, documentation, and legal services in countries where WJRO is not active, and it provides advice to the U.S. Government on restitution issues. "Communal property" includes any existing or destroyed land or building, such as synagogues, schools, ritual baths, hospitals and cemeteries, once owned by a Jewish community, congregation, or organization. Most often, the properties were confiscated by the Nazis during World War II or seized by the various Communist regimes. JDC has created the Strategic European Loan Fund (SELF) to provide interest-free loans to Jewish communities in order to enable them to develop, renovate, or improve the condition of restituted properties which can then yield additional income to the local Jewish community. The SELF Guidelines, Application, and recent success stories are available in PDF and Word formats. To help professionally manage these returned properties and maximize their potential income for the respective communities, JDC has organized training seminars for community leaders throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and the former Soviet Union. Buncher Community Leadership Training A partnership among the Buncher Family Foundation, the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, and JDC launched the Buncher Community Leadership Program in 1989. This manpower training and development structure cultivates potential local leaders and furnishes them with vital resources through a series of intensive workshops and training seminars conducted in various languages, both in Israel and beyond. Buncher seminars have taken place in many new venues and now encompass the former Soviet Union, the Baltic States, Poland, Germany, Former Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria as well as India and Latin America. Leatid Europe In close cooperation with European partners, JDC has developed Leatid Europe, the Center for Jewish Leadership. Leatid, brings together senior Jewish leadership—professionals, lay leaders, and rabbis—from Europe, the Baltic States, and the former Soviet Union (FSU) for workshops that strengthen Jewish knowledge and hone management skills. The Top Leaders' Seminar, Leatid's flagship event, continues to bring heads of Jewish communities together each winter in Venice's Old Jewish Quarter for sessions on community management and discussions of current Jewish issues. Pan-European and Regional Programs In association with the European Council of Jewish Communities (ECJC) and local communities, JDC has developed a variety of regional programs to facilitate networking and personal contact and to provide small, scattered Jewish communities with the critical mass needed to organize events and create a richer Jewish life. This regional framework is taking place on two levels: - Professional: community directors, Jewish educators, directors of homes for the elderly, youth directors, JCC directors and other professionals - Individuals: singles meetings, young adult groups, ages 25-35, adults 35-45, family programs, senior trips to other communities, etc. JDC Community Development using the Internet Over the past several years, JDC has developed a family of websites that provide resources and tools to lay leaders and professionals in communities of different sizes and different needs. Presented in four languages at www.jewishprograms.org, the websites provide access to an online database of programming ideas and resource materials that can be customized to fit each user's specific needs. The websites also offer an online consulting section and actively facilitate networking. Partners JDC provides consultation to the ECJC, serving both lay and professional staff in developing strategies and programs and in the organization of its annual conference. In addition, JDC assisted the ECJC in transforming the annual Board meeting into a European General Assembly and in scheduling regional and executive meetings. The European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) receives financial support from JDC for its Summer University, a program that regularly brings together some 300 Jewish students from all parts of Europe. Through Leatid Europe, JDC also provides EUJS leaders with training and professional guidance for various programs. As with all JDC initiatives, our goal in Europe is to help create and manage innovative programs and, ultimately, turn over to local Jewish leadership responsibility for their ongoing operations. | ||
